Someone who has an addiction to unhealthy food/drink does not like to be reminded about it. They may realize the unhealthy aspect of their addiction, but choose to do nothing about it.Or maybe they’d like to do something about it but they are powerless. They are hooked.There are many reasons why people consume what they consume. One is depression.“Comfort food.” In the short term it may make you feel better, but is it comforting to know that what you’re putting in your precious body is promoting disease/a shorter life?

If something is unhealthy, I don’t feel I’m depriving myself. Rather I’m giving myself a gift- health- by staying away from it. There are plenty of wonderful, healthy tasting foods to choose from.The trick is to become un-addicted to the unhealthy stuff, and to become addicted to the healthy stuff. Easier said than done, but possible!

Many people are addicted to sugar. I certainly was.Doctors are comparing sugar addiction to drug addiction like cocaine and heroin- it’s so hard to stop. Processed sugar promotes cancer and other disease. The key is to get your sugar, or glucose, in unprocessed form. We need glucose for fuel, for energy. To receive its full health benefits, glucose must be consumed in its natural form. Whenever white, processed sugar is consumed in any form, it is digested quickly, causing the pancreas to spike insulin.Unhealthy insulin spike may eventually lead to diabetes.

If sugar is consumed naturally, as in a fruit or vegetable, digestion is slower- healthier. Insulin spikes are much more subtle. Other forms of processed foods that cause unhealthy insulin spikes are white rice and white flour products. Brown rice is much healthier, as well as whole grain flour products. Again, the key is to eat foods that are digested more slowly, in their natural form.

You will never know how good whole, natural food tastes until you limit the powerful tastes of processed sugar and salt. Sugar and salt deaden your taste buds.Try going off sugar and salt for awhile. A few days, a week, a month, as long as you can. Then try a ripe piece of fruit. You’ll be amazed how good it tastes. You’ll be amazed how good any whole, natural food tastes.

Whole natural foods come either right out of the garden, or right off the tree- eaten raw, or cooked in a healthy way, which means steamed, or boiled in a soup.

Salt is addictive and promotes disease. What’s the first thing a doctor takes away when someone is diagnosed with high blood pressure? Salt.So why not take it easy on the salt now, to prevent disease?And by the way sea salt is pretty much as unhealthy as any other type of salt. Salt is salt.If you have to take high blood pressure medication, the pills are not curing the disease. It’s like putting a band-aid on a cut that never heals. The only way to cure it is with a prescription for nutritional excellence.

I love sweets/sugar. I get my sugar mainly from natural sources- fruits and vegetables. A few things in my diet still have processed sugar. I don’t eat any candy, don’t drink pop, and stay away from salt in as many things as I can. The food I mainly eat- whole, natural foods- tastes amazing. I can’t emphasize this enough- they taste amazing, because my tastes buds are healthy from healthy eating, not deadened by the powerful tastes of sugar and salt.

Addictions I’m fighting: cheese, pizza with cheese/white flour crust, chocolate, chips of all kinds, ice cream, salted nuts, chicken, hot dogs, and ham. It’s been years since I’ve had these. These were foods I grew up with and loved. Hopefully with time, these cravings will subside.

Good luck battling your unhealthy addictions. I’ll work on mine.

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Fuhrman Snippets:

There is a new term for people who seek good health, coined by Dr. Fuhrman: Nutritarian.A nutritarian is a person whose food choices are influenced by nutritional quality.I like this label, as compared to vegan or vegetarian.Sounds political. “I’m not a democrat or republican.I voted nutritarian.” Ha!

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Researchers have proven that your DNA is affected by exercise. The more you exercise, the younger your DNA stays.So, the more you exercise, the younger you’ll stay!